Lower Control Arm

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The lower control arm is a two-piece welded unit with a riveted ball joint. A conventional rubber bushing is used for the rear lower control arm pivot. The front lower control arm bushing is mounted vertically.

REMOVAL AND INSTALLATION

Some special tools are required to perform this operation including, a front hub spindle removal tool and a suitable ball joint separator tool.

WARNING
Do not hammer or pry ball joint from knuckle. Failure to use recommended tools may cause damage to the ball joint and seal.
See Figure 1

Fig. Fig. 1: Exploded view of the control arm-to-frame mounting

Raise the vehicle and suitably support by the frame allowing the control arms to hang free.

Remove the wheel and tire assembly.

Remove the steering gear outer tie rod from the steering knuckle.

Remove the stabilizer shaft link from the control arm.

Remove the front drive axle shaft nut and washer.

Use a suitable front hub spindle removal tool to Push the axle splines back out of the front wheel drive shaft bearing.

Remove the drive axle from the transaxle.

Drive axle joint seal protectors should be used anytime service is performed on or near the drive axles. Failure to observe this could result in joint or seal failure.

Place a modified inner drive joint seal protector on the drive axle joints.

If equipped, remove the ABS wheel speed sensor jumper harness.

Remove and discard the cotter pin, then loosen the nut from the ball stud.

Remove the pinch bolt and the control arm mounting bolts, then remove the control arm from the vehicle.

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The ball joint is pressed into the upper control arm and has a tapered stud for attachment to the steering knuckle. The ball joint stud is attached and locked into the steering knuckle using a special nut. The ball joint is a sealed-for-life type and requires no maintenance. If the ball joint is defective it will require replacement of the entire upper control arm.

its easier to get the whole control arm and the lower one has to be pressed in. it is not and easy job if you dont have the right tools checkout rockauto.com to look at the replacement parts and to get a price on them

to remove the axles, remove brake caliper and disc, remove hub assembly, the center hub/axle nut and...(there are i think 3-4 bolts on the back side of the spindle to remove the hub), you may have to force the hub off the spindle with a hammer or air hammer... once the hub is out the axle should slide out of the front differential allowing access to the ball joint nuts for removal...

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remove the wheel. then take out the lower ball joint bolt.remove the tie rod from the assembly this makes it easy to swing the assembly back and forth. using a ball joint fork insert it between the the ball joint and lower control arm and wack the end on it till the ball joint separates from the control arm. using a pry bar put it thru the control arm so you can pry down on the control arm to release the ball joint then towards the back of the control arm are 2 nuts remove these and remove the cap that they hold towards the front of the control arm is one more nut remove this one and then pull out the control arm replace in reverse order

jack up the the side with the broken ball joint under the control arm.Remove the axle nut (4x4)remove the caliper and the rotor.remove the outer tie rod from the knuckle.Remove the upper and lower control arm nuts and remove knuckle from vehicle.

Please be mindful to carefully note the position of the old parts as you disassemble the suspension, then follow these steps to do the re-installation:

REMOVAL

1. Disconnect the negative battery cable.

2. Raise and safely support the vehicle.

3. Remove the wheel and tire assembly.

4. Remove and discard the tension strut-to-control arm nut, then pull off the dished washer.

When separating the control arm from the steering knuckle, do not use a hammer. Be careful not to damage the ball joint boot seal.

5. Remove and discard the control arm-to-steering knuckle pinch bolt. Using a small prybar, spread the pinch joint slightly, then separate the control arm from the steering knuckle. A drift punch may be used to remove the bolt, but be very careful not to damage the ball joint boot seal.

Do not allow the halfshaft to move outward, or the tripod CV-joint internal parts could separate, causing failure of the joint.

6. Remove and discard the lower control arm inner pivot bolt and nut.

7. Remove the lower control arm from the frame and the tension strut.

INSTALLATION

Make sure the front washer is at the strut-to-lower control arm attachment.

8. Insert the strut into the inner bushing.

9. Position the lower control arm into the subframe bracket, using a new nut and bolt. Tighten to 73-97 ft. lbs. (98-132 Nm).

10. Assemble the lower control arm ball joint stud to the steering knuckle, making sure the ball stud groove is positioned properly. Be very careful not to damage the lower control arm seal.

11. Insert a new pinch bolt and nut, then tighten to 40-53 ft. lbs. (53-72 Nm).

12. Clean the strut threads to remove dirt and/or debris.

13. Install the dished washer, with its dished side away from the control arm bushing. Install a new nut on the strut and tighten to 73-97 ft. lbs. (98-132 Nm).

Lift the passenger side of vehicle. Remove tire/wheel assembly. Remove the axle nut. Remove the tie rod end nut. Smack the side of the housing the tie rod end goes into to pop the tie rod end loose and out. Remove the sway bar link. Remove the lower ball joint nut. Smack the housing the lower ball joint goes into to pop the ball joint loose. Pry the lower control arm down to pop the ball joint out. swivel the rotor and strut assembly to the side. Pop the axle out. Reassemble in the reverse order.

I had a question i bought a used control arm for a 2001 honda civic compared it to the original and everything was the same except the part where the ball joint goes into is a few mm thicker on the control arm. Beedless to say i got it in but i had to over tighten to get the nut in all the way. I thought this would stop the rattling sound when i hit a pothole bit its still doing it and i fear the control arm is the incorrect one what other honda has the same control arm as the civic?